MINNEAPOLIS--Darrius Heyward-Bey hit the ground, stayed on the ground, and everything at Mall of America Field went quiet.

It was chilling, but the Raiders wide receiver never lost consciousness after suffering a neck injury when he was hit on the back of the head in the fourth quarter Sunday.

Heyward-Bey was alert the whole time he was the ground, according to Raiders coach Hue Jackson. But medical personnel made sure Heyward-Bey stayed on the turf for several minutes.

On the play, Heyward-Bey appeared to be struck by Minnesota linebacker E.J. Henderson's forearm.

"Man, that was a scary moment," Raiders receiver Louis Murphy said of watching his friend on the ground. "I told him that I'm praying for him and I kept telling him to pull through.

"At first, he wasn't saying anything, but then he gave me the thumbs up and said he was good."

Heyward-Bey gave the entire stadium a thumbs-up right after he was put on a cart and taken to the hospital for tests.

Comcast SportsNet Bay Area reported Heyward-Bey was examined at Hennepin County Medical Center and released.

The Raiders confirmed Sunday evening that Heyward-Bey was on the team's flight back to Oakland.

"Hopefully, I can get his number and try to reach out to him," said Henderson, who, like Heyward-Bey, played at Maryland (but years before Heyward-Bey). "I have been in the ambulance before, so it's definitely hard. I hope he is OK."

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On the play, Heyward-Bey took a short pass from Carson Palmer, was tackled from behind, then absorbed the hit from Henderson as he was going to the ground.

After the long delay, the game resumed, but the Raiders still seemed dazed. They won 27-21, but the sight of their teammate being attended to on the ground lingered.

"It's rough -- you don't block it out," Murphy said. "When you see stuff like that, you kind of rethink what you're doing right now, rethink your occupation.

"But we had to keep doing what we were doing and come out with the win."